A standard handwritten character input device comprises a tablet comprising a touch panel tablet that detects electronic signals arising through changes in pressure or static electricity superimposed on a display screen such as an LCD panel and a stylus pen for marking position on the tablet; based on position information of the stylus pen moving on the touch panel, a character input by handwriting is recognized. There are also handwritten character input devices such that position information of a mouse cursor on a monitor screen of a personal computer is acquired and character input by handwriting is recognized. In either case, a user moves a marking point on a display screen using a pointing device such as a stylus pen, mouse or the like, and inputs a desired handwritten character.
With such a handwritten character input device, there may be cases where a handwritten character input area that receives handwritten character input is set up independently, without any relation to other display information. In this case, there is the danger that a text input area that is set up as an input column and that displays handwritten character recognition results as text data may overlap the handwritten character input area. For example, with a mobile information terminal such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), for purposes of miniaturization there are limitations with respect to size of the display screen and this may lead to cases where the text input area is displayed at a position that interferes with the handwritten character input area. In such a case, it becomes difficult to confirm input handwritten character information.
Further, there may be cases where a handwritten character input area and text input area are the same. For example, a character input by handwriting is recognized and the recognized result is displayed in a text input area, and at the same time, trace information from a pointing device to be displayed in accordance with handwriting input is not displayed. In this case, it is necessary to make the handwritten character input area sufficiently large for making handwritten input; however, it is difficult to design such a text input area so that a large amount of data can be input therein.
A further conceivable case would be to have a user select in advance a text input area where input is to be performed, and have the entire screen serve as a handwritten character input area, accepting input of handwritten characters. In this case, to perform input of handwritten character, a user must switch between a command mode for selecting text input area and a handwritten input mode enabling handwritten input.
Another proposed handwritten character input device as disclosed in a laid-open Japanese Patent Application 2003-44214 (JP2003-44214A) is configured so that a text input area where a handwritten character is to be input is determined from the start point coordinates of the handwritten character input, and the recognition results of the recognized character are reflected in this text input area.